Communication and trust are must-haves for any great functioning relationship.

Don't worry, this isn't a "Dating 101" course. It's an inside look at Brian Flores' 900-level defense. And, yes, the advice above isn't only applicable but paramount to the Vikings and their terrorizing of NFL offenses.

The Athletic's Ted Nguyen and Alec Lewis on Wednesday dove deep into what makes Minnesota's defense so smothering, pliable, and difficult to attack.

In addition to nonstop player-coach communication and trust that smartly encourages the guys in the thick of it to push back against ideas they are not fond of and offer alternative solutions, Flores' unit is founded on free-thinking, fanatical disguises and fearlessness. The latter is evident in how Vikings defenders move on game days, and Flores' swift accountability when something new is tried and fails.

The main point Nguyen and Lewis make is Flores' secrets aren't tucked in a playbook. They form organically when coaches and players meet. Innovation doesn't just happen, it happens continuously.

Here's an excerpt from their story:

"How can I put this in a way that most people would understand?" safety Joshua Metellus wondered aloud last week. "It's, like, when you've got a group of friends, and you're trying to figure out what y'all are doing for the weekend. Everybody's throwing out ideas."

Maybe it's a new way to disguise a blitz. Perhaps it's a strategy to shift the front into a better position to play a specific run scheme. Flores will lob up a suggestion, then the football version of a think tank begins to crackle. What if we tried this? Could we hold up there? Would we be susceptible here?

Flores encourages the players to think malleably and speak bluntly. These are core components of a unit that has gone from 24th in DVOA to second in two seasons, a defense that has shown signs in training camp that it could become even more formidable with interior defensive line additions (Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave), speed at corner (Isaiah Rodgers and Jeff Okudah) and the emergence of youngsters (like [2024] first-rounder Dallas Turner).

Flores said analytics, such as information on tendencies and personnel groupings, has played a part in what the Vikings do. Nguyen and Lewis pointed out that an untraditional perspective has catered to what Flores' defense does, too: The coordinator sees 11 spots on the field. Not 11 positions, which can be limiting, conceptually. Flores isn't afraid, for instance, to align Metellus at strong safety, free safety, left cornerback, right cornerback, slot cornerback, left inside linebacker, right inside linebacker, middle linebacker, left outside linebacker, right outside linebacker, right defensive end or left defensive tackle.

The "safety" performed each of those roles in a season, because Flores' scheme enabled him to.

In examining some of the intricacies of the Vikings "D", Nyguen and Lewis presented several diagrams of plays from last season that revealed Master's level disguises. One package named MAZE, standing for man alignment, zone execution, baited Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford into an interception in Week 8. Another convoluted pre-snap look in Week 11 confused Titans quarterback Will Levis and resulted in an unblocked pressure over the center despite Tennessee's offensive line having a numerical advantage.

It's impossible for an offense to know what's next because of disguises.

Read Nyguen's and Lewis' story on Flores' defense and its ingenuity here.

Non-rookies to watch

Hordes of players rely on the preseason to jumpstart their careers.

Exhibition games are the first real chance for rookies to impress against someone other than teammates. It's where undrafted players launch themselves into 53-man roster conversations and/or increase their odds of making a practice squad. Many veterans depend on preseason performance to raise their status.

It's why there's so much intrigue on an NFL field – even when the final score counts for squat.

Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports on Thursday identified 10 "former draft crushes" who he can't wait to watch this weekend; the caveat is his selections aren't rookies, but players on the cusp of larger roles.

Excitingly, 20 percent of Trapasso's article spotlights a couple Vikings: second-year undrafted free agent outside linebacker Gabriel Murphy and defensive lineman and former XFL standout Jalen Redmond.

Murphy suffered an injury in training camp last year and missed most of the season. When he recovered, he factored into two games (35 snaps on defense, 12 on special teams) and had a tackle and quarterback hit. Murphy actually had a scary moment in Wednesday's practice where he laid on the ground for several minutes and was attended to before bouncing to his feet and cutting back-and-forth to test his stability. He managed to flash the rest of the practice, coming up with a few pressures and tackle assists.

Trapasso wrote the following about the 6-foot-2, 247-pound defender who tallied 21 college sacks:

Murphy possesses the advanced hand-work repertoire to overcome size and draft-status obstacles to make it in the NFL on the Vikings. … There's plenty of Uchenna Nwosu (a Seahawks linebacker with a comparable 6-foot-2, 251-pound frame) to his game, and he might be more of a dynamic, skilled outside rusher. Murphy's honed talent feels like a nightmare for backup offensive linemen in the preseason.

Redmond is a tad more on-the-radar already because of his breakout 2024, when he appeared in 13 games (2 starts) and posted 18 tackles, including six for a loss, a sack, quarterback hit and two passes defensed. He really came on in Weeks 13-15 last season, totaling four TFLs and 10 tackles on 81 snaps.

After a brief spring-league stint resurrected his NFL dreams and Redmond defied his own undrafted billing to make Minnesota's 53-man roster at the end of his first Vikings training camp, Trapasso wrote that he is "fascinated to watch Redmond this preseason to see if he can not only continue to prove the NFL wrong by making more impact plays against the run but also creating pressure on a routine basis."

In practices so far, Redmond has looked quick off the ball and has consistently applied inside pressure.

Other players featured by Trapasso are Bears RB Roschon Johnson, Broncos WR Troy Franklin, Patriots TE Jaheim Bell, Bills DE Javon Solomon, Eagles DT Moro Ojomo, Chargers LB Junior Colson, Broncos CB Kris Abrams-Draine and Titans LB Amari Burney. You can check out his evaluations of those non-rookies here.

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